


Preservation

by Nispedana



Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: F/M, Fem! Ryoma, Nispedana, Prince of Tennis - Freeform, genderbender
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-18
Updated: 2014-07-01
Packaged: 2017-12-08 19:46:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/765289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nispedana/pseuds/Nispedana
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU. Fem! Ryoma. When a certain bocchama transfers to Rikkaidai with his vertically-challenged bodyguard... how can things possibly change?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: I WISH I own the Prince of Tennis Characters and Techniques.

...

CHAPTER 1: Arrival

RIKKAIDAI HIGH

Another wonderful day it was in the Kanagawa prefecture. The birds were chirping happily, the leaves rustling along with the cool and gentle breeze of the wind. It was an especially perfect day for a new start, so to speak, and luckily it was the first day of classes as well.

Could it be a sign?

Pop!

A red-headed boy's gum bubble popped covering his mouth. He nonchalantly sucked it in and returned to chewing the gooey substance. His companion, a tanned bald-headed foreigner sighed in disapproval.

"That's disgusting, Marui."

The red-head pouted. "Don't ruin my good day, Jackal." He muttered and blew another bubble. Jackal shook his head and soon felt a greeting hand on his shoulder.

"Yo."

"Yagyuu." Jackal called the renowned gentleman in acknowledgement. Marui held his hand up for a greeting and they walked deeper within the school grounds, dismissing the stares that directed to them from time to time.

They soon saw two of their other friends a.k.a. teammates who were standing by the water fountain ignoring, too, the stares they were all too used to receive. The regulars weren't 'super-star' famous, but they were definitely well-known. Their innate attractive personalities and their development- due to being winners and due to the people that they surrounded themselves with- imposed something heavy yet admirable to everyone's eyes.

"Sanada, Yanagi." He called the pair and all of them stood there for a short chat before proceeding to their respective classrooms. It was unfortunate that club activities were prohibited during the first day of classes, otherwise all of them would have met in the tennis courts. Probably with a few friendly matches to make their day.

"Kya~ It's the Tennis team!" It seemed that a few of the thick-skinned people had arrived in school as well.

"Yagyuu-senpai!"

"Niou-san~!"

"Kya~! Marui-kun!"

Jackal sighed. "As popular as always?"

"You're popular to in the school, y'know. Just not next to me." Marui grinned.

"A few's missing though…"

"Niou-san's not there." A random guy commented and the few spectators nodded. "And..."

"That Sophomore..." his friend, another random guy, cut him off. "Kirihara, right?"

"I wish he was here..." a brunette commented from behind them. The guy shook his head, recalling how bloody pompous the boy was.

"Naw. He's an eyesore."

And then he felt a weird, shivering, presence from behind him.

"What did you say?"

"Eek!" He paled. "K-Kirihara!"

The boy glared at him and soon they were eye-to-eye. Everyone else kept their distance and watched it in a mix of anxiety and amusement.

Sanada, though, was having a headache. He massaged his forehead in an attempt to calm it down. He stared at his teammate who was causing all these trouble.

"Niou."

Everyone gaped at 'Kirihara'. And seeing everyone's amusing reaction, Niou chuckled and decided to stop his games. "Hai~" he said, and took off his wig. And mask.

Where did he even get that mask?

But Niou, unfortunately, even with his little antic did not remain in the spotlight.

"Kyaa! Sanada-senpai~!"

"He could tell?"

"Admirable!"

Niou sighed. He did not get why this stoic person was more popular than he was. But oh well... being popular was only important to him because it guaranteed very amusing reactions from many people- and that's that. So in the end, he just shrugged and grouped himself with the others.

Together, the Rikkaidai Tennis regulars made most of the passerby gape shamelessly in awe.

All of them truly had their own unique and imposing personalities. Combined with the tennis team's reputation and talents- everybody admired them. Even Kirihara, albeit most wouldn't admit it. He wasn't even there, anyway.

Sanada looked at his clock, and then tilted his head to look at his teammates. Everyone stiffened.

"Let's go." he said, and his team nodded.

"Hai! Buchou."

…

Shit

"I am so going to be late!" A certain sea-weed head ran towards his school, holding his bag under his armpit in his scurry. He heard that blasted bell ring and he dashed even faster.

It was then that he heard a car stop behind him, right in front of the gate he just passed through. He instinctively turned his head around and saw a black limousine. He couldn't help but stop his tracks and completely turned around, albeit not bothering to make his observation inconspicuous.

He watched the door open and a pretty boy with greenish-black hair go down the car. He looked extremely formal and he did not even bother acknowledging Kirihara's presence even when he was gaping at him so openly.

The mysterious boy then stood outside the limo and, as if on cue, another person came out.

Kirihara blinked.

It was a very beautiful girl with blue hair. She was as pale as snow and Kirihara looked down for more descriptions.

His eyes twitched.

Scratch that: the 'girl' was a friggin' guy!

Kirihara let out a deep breath and shrugged. It was normal of him to admire a girl's beauty (assuming she looked like an angel) and then shrug it off completely forgetting about the girl a minute later. Obviously, this quote-and-quote 'guy' wouldn't be any different.

The androgynous boy soon walked past him, giving him a polite smile. He got a tad flustered since the boy seriously emitted that extremely 'sophisticated' aura around him. It was like being a mere servant getting smiled at by a… prince?

Kirihara did not like the humbling experience. For most part anyway. Unlike Sanada-buchou or his other senpais, he didn't know this person well enough to say that he deserved his respect.

He realized he'd rather not. There was too many people in that school that he already (but begrudgingly) looked up to- people he would defeat someday.

"Mada Mada Dane." came out-of-nowhere. It was from that other boy and he was looking at him in a mix of guardedness and pompousness.

Kirihara's eyes twitched and gestured to glare. 'Impertitent little-'

But then his emerald orbs met his golden ones. And for that moment he lost his voice. Not to mention his breath.

The boy though, seeing that he wouldn't say anything else, apathetically turned away from him and followed the demure 'prince'. He could not help but stare at their fleeting figures. Was that little kid a follower of sorts? The fact that he never tried to walk side-by-side, maintaining a good distance… and seeming to accompany the bluenette wherever he went… Kirihara couldn't help but get the feeling that their relationship was like that.

It didn't take long for the two to enter the building though, and he cringed.

Kirihara realized a tad too late that he was… well, late.

He cursed.

Darn it.

PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE

The principal and all of his staff welcomed the new-comer in anxiety. It was just that their nervous states were replaced with an ogling atmosphere when they saw them. Those two new students were beyond good-looking. Their sophisticated auras, albeit in different ways, were also hard to miss.

The secretary ushered them in to a very expensive and basically unused seat reserved in the principal's office. The taller boy sat in front of the lean old man's desk, while the smaller one ignored the other chair and stood slightly behind the other as if it was the most natural thing to do.

The principal knew, of course, that in their world- it truly was.

"Yukimura-sama." He smiled, classically resting his chin on his hands as his elbows supported his upper weight. The gesture gave him the stereotypical unreadable old man aura that he actually was. "Welcome back to Japan."

"Hai, Hanamura-sensei. I missed this country, very much. But England had been good to us, wasn't it Ryoma-kun?" He turned his head slightly, but didn't look at the other boy. The other boy remained impassive.

"Hai. Seiichi-sama."

Hanamura observed the two kids. The typical bodyguard/butler-master interaction during the early ages. It was kind of impressive to see such relationship at this age, but nevertheless felt that it was somehow different. Experience by old age told him there was something… more behind those facades the two children wore.

But, obviously, it shouldn't be one of his concerns at the moment. His main concern was, well… , making the bocchama feel comfortable. It was, after all, well-known that his parents had started their influence in England. And in these past few years, they became powerful to the point that they were the first Asians to be so close with the Queen.

Hence, to un-satisfy this mild-looking boy could get quite… troublesome.

He looked at his bodyguard. "We had a request that you be entered the same year as Yukimura-sama. You are only 16. Is that alright?"

"I do not see why not." The boy said coldly -offended- and the man mentally thanked the heavens he was given enough veins not to shiver under the young boy's glare.

"Ha-ha…" The bluenette intervened, softening the tense atmosphere. "Ryoma had been home-schooled like I was. I can assure you he would be able to follow the curriculum without difficulty."

"I…see…" he said, certainly feeling rather imprisoned being in the same room as these two kids. "That's good to hear."

And with that, he cleared his throat and stood up.

"Well, in any case." He smiled politically. "Welcome to Rikkaidai High."

3-A

Inside a certain classroom on the building's top floor was silence. Classes had just started when a staff member knocked, calling their homeroom teacher out. Soon, the woman went back in accompanied by two late-comers. Everyone had already introduced themselves earlier, she said as she watched them stand in front of lass, so 'maybe' they had to introduce themselves like transfer students did.

"You don't have to though!" Their teacher smiled anxiously (like a disclaimer of sorts), alerting the senses of two analytical boys who occupied a back row seats.

It was then that they heard a low, quiet, chuckle. "No, Yamato-sensei. We will introduce ourselves." the blue-haired boy smiled, making everyone ogle at him.

"My name is Yukimura Seichi." he said, and a few more squeals were heard.

"Pretty~!"

"I think he's a guy, though…"

"Who's the other guy?"

"Echizen Ryoma."

"Kya!" Another batch of girls tried to stifle their fangirl reflexes. It was no use though, obviously. "They're both my type!" A girl whispered but Ryoma sighed, as he heard. He then met a bespectacled boy's eyes. He seemed to be analyzing his master.

"Hm… Yukimura… sounds familiar."

His seatmate, a person with a similar aura with him, nodded. "I think I heard of that, too."

Silence

Yanagi rarely commented on such trivial things.

And so, everyone stared at the two kids- ready to satisfy their curiosities to their heart's contents.

But the teacher noted that both kids were extremely quiet- so she deduced they'd rather not be questioned in front of class. So she clapped her hand , silenced the class, and lead the two to their respective seats.

She placed the raven-haired boy at the last row, by the corner, which his type would probably like. While the bluenette on a column near the window but on a middle row.

She asked them if their seats were alright and they nodded. She could not help but sigh in relief.

Yamato forced herself to ignore Yanagi and Yagyuu's curious stares.

Echizen Ryoma stared blankly at the window, shifting her gaze towards her master from time to time. And then to the people who were doing the same thing. It was her job, after all, to protect her master. To make sure no one planned on hurting him.

Her eyes ended back to him again. He was really so… fragile, to the point that even if it wasn't her job to guard him- she probably would have done so all the same. And... albeit it was understandable that most people would get the impression of Seichi being weak, she already saw so many sides of him. The boy was even an athlete! So she didn't get why she couldn't shake that impression of him off even when they had known each other for so long.

She sighed. There she was again, thinking of trivial things. She needed to focus on protecting him and that alone. And that was what she had done- perfectly.

But these past few years, her job became more and more difficult. She was, after all, growing weaker- thanks to her accursed female body that nobody but a chosen few were even aware she had.

She looked at him again. She wondered if he knew- how her job was becoming harder. Of course he didn't- otherwise, they would have replaced her already. She did train hard so that even the most critical eyes would not catch it- especially her being female.

Besides…, she mused with a hint of sadness in her chest, hadn't anyone noticed?

Yukimura Seichi had never even looked at her.

.  
.

END OF CHAPTER 1

Coming Soon:  
CHAPTER 2: Home

…

I would love to read what you thought! :D  
Checking those lovely boxes would be deeply appreciated, as well.


	2. Meeting the Rikkai Regulars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Second chapter--and it was time to meet the people who will become huge parts of their lives.

Thanks guys! Especially to those who reviewed, fav'ed, C2d, and subscribed this. And I think this'll be updated a little faster than 'Sea' after all... XD

DISCLAIMER: I WISH I own the Prince of Tennis Characters and Techniques.

…

CHAPTER 2: Meeting the Rikkai Regulars

3-A

Riiiing

The bell rang, signalling that it was their recess. As soon as the professor went out the door, the students stood and basically ogled Ryoma and Seichi. But most went to Seichi, unsurprisingly, since a few people finally recognized who he was- and did not bother hiding it.

"Yukimura! Are you related to that Japanese business tycoon based in England?" A hyperactive lad asked Seichi really shamelessly, but the trained Yukimura only smiled.

"He's my father."

Impressed 'OH!'s echoed within in the room, and Ryoma sighed and proceeded looking outside the window. She ignored the few girls (many of which couldn't even go near Seichi due to his popularity) who were pushing each other to try and approach her.

She abruptly stood up, making them flinch. "E-Echizen-san?"

"I'll go get a drink." She stated dismissively, and walked away.

Then she paused and shifted her gaze to Seichi. 'Maybe he'd want one, as well.' But she saw a few girls offering him a drink already. She tilted her head.

'Did he ask for one?' She wondered pretty sure she never heard him say anything (she could recognize his voice anywhere) but seeing he was already being taken of (and no hostile atmosphere sensed whatsoever), she shrugged and headed to wherever she was going before. At the door, she saw those two boys from before that really stood out. They were just sitting in their seats, passively staring at her. She looked at the alternatively, and they to her.

She sighed. "Where's the nearest vending machine?"

It was the one with eternally closed eyes who answered, monotonously."Out the door. Left. 10 meters."

"Domo."

*Barely a minute later*

Tap Step Tap

Ryoma sighed (again). "Are you following me?"

Normally she wouldn't say anything and just ignore these two. But there was something about them that shouted 'we're observing you'.

Bloody Bastards

"We're going to get drinks ourselves." The bespectacled guy, who politely introduced himself as Yagyuu, stated as a matter-of-factly.

"Hm." She shrugged (well, sort of) and headed to the said vending machine.

Step Step Step

Ryoma twitched. On their way, they met a few people who were running towards their classroom. She heard about them muttering excitedly about a famous kid transferring in and she shook her head in disapproval at how quickly gossip spread.

"90% chance that the observers will increase by two folds by the Lunch time." She twitched. Seichi was used to attention, but they were home-schooled for the past 2 years. She'd have to ask him what he'd want to do.

"It is interesting that we are receiving much less attention than we used to get." It was the guy who said the percentages. She suddenly found it odd that she believed him so quickly.

"I'm surprised you cared." She said, semi-still thinking about her last train of thought.

"I don't. I just didn't think it would happen."

Yagyuu smirked. "Touche."

It was then that they simultaneously stared at the young boy, who seemed to be oblivious that he was the one they were speaking about. They were used at people staring at them as they passed the hallway, it was just that the attention was mostly on him. And they didn't think it was because of his height.

Speaking of heights…

"Pardon the rude implications of my question, but are you our age?"

Ryoma looked at him, soon stopping by the vending machine. "No."

"I see…" Yagyuu said but didn't ask any further questions. The boy then shifted his gaze towards his companion, who had been silent for a few steps prior- not that it was out of normalcy, but this kid was quite interesting. Yagyuu thought Yanagi was looking for ways to get his data.

And he soon realized that Yanagi really was. But it seemed like the boy noticed it as well.

"What is with you?"

"Hm?"

"It's disconcerting to observe people like that, you know." Ryoma said guardedly.

"You noticed?" Yanagi voiced out, impressed. It wasn't everyday his inconspicuous analyses were discovered. He wondered why the boy did…

"What is your relationship with the bocchan?" He asked bluntly, sensing it would answer his question. To his surprise, it was answered pretty easily.

"I'm his bodyguard." The boy said straight-forwardly and whipped his head towards the machine. The boy's eyebrows met at the sight of the options. "I have never seen these drinks before…"

Yagyuu looked at him and sighed. "What types of drinks do you like in England?" She answered 'juice'.

"I suggest Ponta, then." Yanagi said out-of-nowhere. Surprising him. Yagyuu was about to suggest the same thing, though. So he shrugged in the end, and a minute later they got themselves their respective drinks. He took a cocoa, while Yanagi drank tea.

It was then that the boy's expression suddenly changed. Echizen seemed to have had a pleasant surprise with his new drink, but he was quick to hide it. They weren't really taken aback, since they too were quick to compose themselves. It was just that the boy looking pleased got kind of engraved in their heads…

The raven-haired boy stared at them basically for staring at him. "Why are you interviewing me, again?"

"We found both of you interesting characters." Yagyuu initiated. "But Yukimura was too approachable that we couldn't approach him. We decided to deal with you instead."

"Ah." Ryoma puffed. Now that he mentioned her master, her line of thought returned to what might happen later at lunch. She paused and stared at Yanagi.

"Is your data accurate?"

"Hai."

Yagyuu stared at the boy's pondering stance. And being the 'gentleman' that he was, even to fellow men, he smiled and offered her his help.

"What could be bothering you?"

"My boss. I don't think he'd like that much attention." He said. "Who would, anyway?"

"Marui and Kirihara would."

"Who?"

"Our teammates." Yanagi said, interrupting Yagyuu yet again (not that it mattered, but still).

Yagyuu cleared his throat, a little amused. "Would you like to come with us this lunch? We eat at a relatively private space."

He stared at them in comprehension. And after a few long seconds of thinking, he finally nodded. "He'd like that."

And they returned to their respective classrooms.

RIKKAI HIGH GREEN HOUSE, Lunch

At the edge of school, existed a beautiful garden next to the green house used for academic purposes. Both were donated by Yagyuu's family so they were free to use either one. But since the gardens were also used by the gardening club, they always ate in the green house instead- which was (unofficially) reserved for them during lunch.

But despite the beautiful naturalistic environment inside, the interior was teeming with unsophistication.

"LET THAT CAKE GO." Marui gritted his teeth and glared at his raven-haired Kohai. Kirihara grinned and held the cake up, using the marble seating as a standing platform.

Marui frowned and attacked him. Kirihara was quick so he managed to avoid him, skilfully running across the thin marble seating.

But then the door opened, revealing two of their senpais… and a very familiar-looking bluenette.

"I-It's you!" Kirihara exclaimed pointing the hand with the cake to him, soon letting it fall to the ground. Marui soon found his head in the floor in an attempt to catch it.

"Shit."

Marui was turning redder than his head.

Yukimura though, who seemed oblivious to what happened, tilted his head in feign innocence and looked at Kirihara. "Pardon?"

"Don't tell me you don't remember me now, princess."

"Now, Kirihara, don't be rude." Yagyuu's glasses glimmered making Kirihara shiver. There was something about the gentleman being embarrassed with his antics in front of a guest.

"This is Yukimura Seichi." Was all he said, coolly, but Kirihara knew he might as well see hell. But being who he was, that haughty attitude would rather not falter during the all-important introduction.

"Kirihara. Kirihara Akaya. The future number one player in Jap-"

He was cut off by an abrupt, and intense, burning person behind him.

"KIRIHARA!"

EEK!

"M-Marui-senpai! Calm down!"

"H-How can I calm down you freaking seaweed brain!?" He yelled, and strangled him. As a crime of passion took place, Marui turned to a certain direction by coincidence. Marui immediately felt silent and his hold on Kirihara softened considerably.

"Pretty…" he voiced out loud, blushing. Most of them could not help but feel embarrassed for the cake-lover.

But mostly they felt excited… on how he was going to react once he found out.

"Senpai." Kirihara grinned sheepishly, about to tell him. When he felt huge hands cover his mouth. His eyes twitched and looked at his silver-headed senpai.

"Quiet." Niou said slyly. "You don't want him to attack you, right? You forget his mood before this."

Kirihara gulped.

But his nervousness transformed to well…, deviousness, when Niou whispered something interesting.

A second later both of them were whispering suspicious things on Marui's ears, making him pump up in anticipation.

"R-Really?"

"Yeah."

"What did you say?" Yagyuu's glasses shimmered again, while the Yanagi remained silent- interested on how much data he would get. Jackal just sighed and returned to staring blankly at the plants.

But before they knew it, Marui was in front of Yukimura blushing like hell. Yagyuu sighed. They probably told him he was single (and looking for a lover) or something…

"Ojousama, I am Marui Bunta. I-It's a pleasure to meet you." He stuttered. They just knew he would not look at the "lady's" chest area and even when he did, his brain would probably not register it.

He was head-over-heels.

Yukimura though, remained admiringly calm and smiled… holding Marui's hand.

The boy flushed like hell, while the others stared in anticipation. Even Jackal, but hell he'd admit that.

"I-I-I-" But he was cut off… by Yukimura placing his hand on his chest.

"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

"See?" the man smiled, and Yagyuu couldn't help but feel the sadism behind it. The move somehow reminded him of the odd antics of Seigaku's Fuji Syusuke.

He smirked at the events, so he didn't notice that Yukimura was more annoyed than he anticipated. He didn't notice since the atmosphere about him was the same for quite a while now. Looking closely, he realized that the boucchama was not in a good mood even before Marui's rude confession.

Speaking of Marui...

"O-Ojouchan! What c-could this mean?"

"It means you're gay." The bluenette smiled, somewhat sending shivers into a their spines. Marui, though, interpreted it differently.

"I am?"

Yukimura sighed.

And after a few moments of lag, Marui's love-sick brain finally absorbed everything circumstances seemed to have hid from him.

He fainted.

Pfft-

"PWAHAHHAHAHAHAHHA!" It was Niou, soon joined by Kirihara.

"Oh my- GAHAHAHAHAHHA! WAHAHHA- huh?"

He was cut off when he caught Yukimura staring at him. "Ah. I remember now. You're the boy from the entrance." the bocchama chuckled as if nothing happened, but it still reeked of annoyance despite its angelic sound. If he didn't know any better, Kirihara would say he opened the topic up because he was annoyed.

It was then that Kirihara suddenly looked behind him, remembering what thoughts had been annoying him these past few hours. "Aren't you with another (impertinent) boy?"

Silence

Yagyuu flinched. "Ara?"

Yanagi remained his usual stoic self as he muttered things. "He got separated from us some minutes ago."

"You noticed?"

"I thought it was interesting how he just disappeared."

Yukimura sighed, impassive. "He probably got lost again."

Yagyuu looked at him sceptically. "And he's your bodyguard?"

"Yes."

"Bodyguard?" Kirihara said. Well it made sense, so he shrugged it off. He then shifted his gaze towards his unconscious senpai and laughed boisterously again.

Click!

Kirihara blinked at the sound and saw Niou was having the honors of taking the photos. Kirihara gave him a thumbs-up and they cackled like the maniacs that they could be.

Ignoring the two, as always, Yanagi proceeded looking around as Yagyuu introduced the team."Where's Sanada?"

"He said he'd do some last minute checking of council papers or something. He said we should just go ahead." It was Jackal, obviously. "I think we should wait though. If it's alright with our guest." He added, as principled as always.

"Of course." The bluenette just smiled and decided to wonder around the garden. "May I walk around? Gardening is one of my hobbies."

Yagyuu nodded. "Would you like me to accompany you?" He smiled.

"Hai."

"Very well." The bespectacled boy uttered, and slightly raised his hand to lead the way.

…

A surprising amount of species was in that garden, making Yukimura's mood slightly better. Besides, it was interesting- this place and the people. He felt so… normal among these students, and he really liked it. Even Yagyuu, he knew, was not treating him that differently- as odd as it might sound.

His mood, though, was still particularly unnerving simply because of his bodyguard's… incompetence.

Yukimura had noticed he was gone ages ago- back when they were still in the building. But he knew he wasn't supposed to. Ryoma had always been inconspicuous- the boy would rather hide his presence. The fact that he… avoided looking at him helped that.

So he wasn't even supposed to notice he wasn't there anymore.

He looked out the window curtain. Ryoma barely got lost before because he always followed him around. He frowned at the implications of that thought.

What was that boy doing?

Suddenly losing sight of him like that…

*Meanwhile*

Ryoma's eyes twitched. Where the hell was she?

Due to the people who were trying to follow them (and she glared at them from time to time), she seemed to have lost her three companions.

She was still inside the building, making sure she was as unapproachable as possible. There was just one time that she asked for help asking where this 'greenhouse' was, and she was sure she followed their instructions. Right?

A green house was nowhere in sight. That person probably told her the wrong directions.

She huffed.

She felt a surge of anxiety pass through her. What would Seichi say? Did he even notice she was already gone?

She hurriedly stomped across the corridors.

BUMP!

The next thing she knew, dozens of copy papers floated around the air like snowflakes.

She heard a sigh and a large hand offering help. "No thanks." She said passively, and effortlessly stood by herself. Her golden eyes met stern ivory ones, and they stood there in silence- ignoring the mix of anxious stares and squeals that surrounded them.

Of course, Ryoma knew when to apologize. "Gomen." She said, and gestured to get the papers before any of them flew too far.

"Hm." Was all the man said and joined her.

As they picked the sheets up, they really thought that was the last time their presences would intertwine.

Oh how wrong they were...

For a few minutes later, they found that they ended up inside the student council's room- alone- still arranging the papers to their right order.

"I didn't ask you to do this."

"You didn't have to." Sanada nodded at the boy's answer. It was a given to do so anyway, and Sanada didn't quite mind the silent company.

In fact, he kind of liked it.

There was yet another long moment of silence between them, which didn't come unexpectedly of course. Neither of them were the talkative type and when doing things like this they normally would prefer being alone.

But somehow the presence of the other was oddly comfortable.

"I see you're abnormally organized." The boy commented, making Sanada flinch. In these cases, he thought people would ask why he was working alone during lunch time or at least they would beat around the bush to compliment his over-compulsiveness.

"I am." Was all he said, but when all the boy did was nod. Sanada found himself wanting to speak. "Are you not going to eat lunch? I can do the rest myself."

"Nah. I'm not really hungry." Ryoma muttered, trying to hide the fact that she got lost. "Besides, it's kind of interesting to see official paperwork."

"You don't need to lie to me." He said automatically and she blinked at him- making them gape at each other. She let out a low, reflexive, chuckle that kind of sounded like music-

Sanada's eyes jerked at the last thought.

Ryoma though, remained oblivious to the twitching. "That obvious, eh?" She uttered, pertaining to her lie. She was smiling.

Sanada raised a brow, masking the amusement from the pit of his stomach. "That... surprising that it was?"

"Hai."

Sanada found a smile climb up in his face as well, and he arranged his papers looking down on the pile to hide it.

"Interesting…"

.  
.

END OF CHAPTER 2

Coming Soon:  
CHAPTER 3: Home...

Thank you for your time!

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	3. Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER: I WISH I own the Prince of Tennis Characters and Techniques.
> 
> Thanks for reading so far minna-san~! Especially those who supported me by reviewing, fav'ing, subscribing, and clicking the Kudos button. You people are fabulous. xD

**  
CHAPTER 3: Home**

GREEN HOUSE

_GROAAAAN_

A few stomachs churned and cries of hunger followed.

Lunch was almost halfway done and there was still no sign of their captain. Their guest who everyone had finally found out to be quite the VIP looked ever-so patient. But they all had that predisposition to believe that cultured people like him might actually be showing the opposite of what they were _really_ thinking.

And yes, most people would mostly be guarded and restrained.

But the tennis regulars were never quite normal. Yukimura found that oddly refreshing, and it helped his mood a bit. A bit. Just a _bit_.

But before he could let out a sigh, Kirihara slumped back savagely, no longer able to handle it. " _Moouuu_ , how long is he going to get here? I'm hungry! Can't we eat before him?"

"He's the captain. And no." Yagyuu cut him off.

"But-" Kirihara then shifted his gaze to Yukimura, trying to use him as an excuse. Unfortunately for him, Yukimura wasn't in _that_ better mood. He would at least find something entertaining to watch until his body guard found a way to get back to him. So he smiled the angelic smile he knew too-well many fawn over.

"I'd like to meet your captain as well, preferably during lunch."

"See?"

"Darn it." The seaweed puffed his cheeks and proceeded to looking for a mood-lifter. It honestly wasn't hard-

_"Kukuku~"_

...especially when Niou was chortling like that.

Kirihara grinned and looked at the red-head a few meters away.

"Marui-senpai! You should come with us now~"

"Someone kill me." Marui whispered, unmoving at the structure's corner, surrounded by a dark, dark aura.

"No one saw anything, senpai~"

"Hell they did." He snapped, and when Niou wore that mischievous grin of his (probably planning on saying something disturbing) they heard a familiar sound.

_Creak_

They turned to its source. It was the French door, opening slowly- but at least it was actually opening, the promise of satisfying their hunger soon in reach.

"Here he is!" _Finally._ Kirihara yelled, while the usually-excitable Bunta just stared. Since he was the nearest to the door, he was the one who noticed their captain had a companion.

"Ah! He's with a kid…" he muttered lazily before proceeding to his corner of self-pity.

" _Kid?"_ a few repeated and looked behind Sanada as well. Kirihara's eyes widened and rudely pointed at whoever was behind their captain.

"YOU!"

The boy stared. But it seemed _nothing_ went through his head. "Who are you?"

" _Teme-"_

But their interaction was cut off, though, by Yukimura's cool statement and Sanada's glare at the rudeness of his kohai.

"You're late."

_Silence_

Ryoma let out a deep breath and walked closer to the bluenette. He made a slight bow. "I'm sorry for my incompetence."

Everyone gaped, but weren't particularly shocked, while Sanada's eyebrows met at the interaction and yet he didn't say anything- simply because he didn't know what to say, despite wanting badly to say _something_.

So he continued glaring at Kirihara who 'eeped' and begrudgingly apologized. "But buchou… can we please eat now?

He blinked and then saw that the food was untouched. "Didn't I tell you to eat before me?"

"We couldn't do that, obviously." Yanagi shook his head as if he just said something stupid.

"Just sit and join us eat, Buchou." Niou added dismissively, feeling his tummy, before turning his head to a corner and grinning sheepishly.

"Marui~! I actually brought my own cake here. Want some?"

Marui turned to him with a hopeful twinkle in his eyes but dismissed it immediately. Niou was, after all, nicknamed 'trickster' for _something_.

"Prove it." he said, still unable to completely consider the prospective treat nonexistence. It was then that Niou, who seem to have a knack with magic tricks, pulled out a nice little box that had the name 'Red Ribbon' engraved on it.

Marui usually ate cakes especially for him, but Red Ribbon cakes will do.

"You're forgiven!" he yelled and walked to sit beside Niou. He purposely avoided looking at Yukimura.

"He-he."

Sanada sighed, but he had to admit that despite how troublesome and noisy they were. They could always be entertaining to watch. Speaking of entertaining-

He turned to look for the raven-haired boy who somehow made his time fly by, causing him to be late despite actually helping with the paperwork. He couldn't describe that elated feeling when he found out it was going to be extended even when he was a bit confused when the boy said things along the line of 'I have to find my master'.

But as soon as his gaze landed on the boy, he found his frown got deeper. He saw that bluenette turning to the team's direction and away from Echizen. He could not help that churn inside his stomach when he made a guilty face.

"Buchou!" His teammates called, seeing he was already in a daze. He pushed away the thoughts to the back of his mind, and willed himself to focus on his stomach.

"A-Ah."

After all, this wasn't even supposed to be his business. They weren't even on his team.

**…**

They finished eating lunch 5 minutes before the bell rang. Marui was still depressed, while the guest had been quiet.

Sanada looked around and decided that the atmosphere was impractical for his tennis team. "We will resume our training after classes."

"Training?"

It was Yukimura and Sanada only nodded. "Tennis." He saw the guests suddenly flinch, but Echizen quickly hid it. He wondered why…

"Oh? You play tennis?"

"We all do."

"Interesting…" Yukimura whispered. He heard that his new school had the number one tennis team in the country. A pleasant surprise he didn't have to call them out. "Mind if I join?"

"Pardon?"

"I would like to join the tennis team. I have to say that I won't disappoint."

So the team looked at each other, not taken aback, but definitely surprised at the turn of events. But of course no one had a reason to refuse the bocchama. Besides, he looked pretty confident.

So, they nodded.

* * *

TENNIS COURTS, After School

"WHOA!"

_Pak_

"Sugoi. Yukimura-sama's so good!"

_Pak_

"Yeah, he'd be a regular in no time."

_Pak, Boink!_

_"YUKIMURA-SAMA!"  
_

A certain raven-haired cross dressed sighed. She was standing behind the crowd watching the ongoing tennis match, watching with a mix of emotions.

The team, apparently, already had quite an audience. Seichi entering the equation made it like a small concert of sorts. But that wasn't her problem, and she felt her grip on the water bottle and towel she got (no, she did not get lost so long as she had been to the spot a few times before) for Seichi.

Yukimura was playing Kirihara. It was definitely a one-sided game, with Kirihara on the down side.

And yet... she couldn't help but feel envious of the sea-weed brain.

...

She watched every single one of his shots. How the beads of sweats appear, and how they left his body. She watched every single graceful movement of his muscles- _every single one_.

He had improved by folds since then, since they met…

But in the end, she never got to play with him.

_She wondered why…_

It was then that she felt a hand on the tip of her head, as if to pat it unmovingly. She blinked and stared at the source.

"Sanada?" she voiced out changing whatever expression she had before.

The boy, who didn't notice what he was doing, quickly took it off and turned away slightly. It was a good timing that Yukimura just made a very impressive shot.

"Your master is good."

"I know." She nodded. "Seaweed isn't particularly bad either." Even when he was being crushed.

"Do you play with him?"

"I've never played with him before." She said, hoping it implied that she never played tennis. But it was no use, Sanada narrowed his eyes and stared at her.

"Do _you_ play tennis?" She wondered if she'd ever get anything past this guy. There was no use lying…

And it was honestly kind of refreshing.

"Hai."

"Do you want to join in, too?" he asked making her gape at him. His eyes widened immediately, but soon regained himself. "I mean… you are his guard, right?"

"…yes."

He cleared his throat, pushing a light blush away. "Aren't they a little too lax? Sending you as the lone guard? No offense."

"None taken." She shrugged. "The Yukimuras are too influential. No one would dare."

"I…see…" _Is that really it, though?_

"They also have this satellite monitoring suspicious movements." Sanada winced. That made sense, but something still felt a tad lacking but he dismissed the line-of-thought and proceeded to watching the game.

"Kirihara is doing very badly. He only got a game."

"If Seichi-sama was serious, Kirihara wouldn't even get a point." She said making Sanada stare at her.

They were silent after that and just watched everything unfold like the stoic people that they were, side-by-side.

Ryoma entered a daze as she watched the game unfold.

Seichi was definitely having fun, even when he was still in a semi-foul mood from earlier. And Ryoma could see it all so clearly.

"He seems happy." She commented unconsciously and she flinched the moment she realized she said it out-loud. She pushed the blush away and did not dare look at Sanada who was probably gaping at her.

"I'm… glad to hear that."

At then she looked back and stared at Seichi. She nodded out-of-nowhere. "Okay."

"Hm?"

"We'll join in." she said. Sanada smiled.

And once again, they entered that comfortable silence they seemed to be willingly entering lately. Once again, she watched how much fun Seichi was having. It had been a while since they encountered skilled players around their age.

She smiled as he made another good shot.

It looked like her master found a new home.

* * *

YUKIMURA TOKYO RESIDENCE, Later

Ryoma followed Seichi inside the house, staring at his back as inconspicuously as always. They had been silent all the way home, with Seichi staring blankly at the window psychologically pushing her away.

But… it wasn't anything new to her really. Heck- barely a month after they met, he was already pushing her away...

But it never quite seemed to stop being painful.

And thankfully as soon as they opened the door, she was glomped, effectively blowing the troublesome ponderings away.

"Tadaima, kaasan." She said and sighed as her mother cuddled her. "It's not like we haven't seen each other this breakfast, you know…" she mumbled as she watched Seichi get himself a glass of water.

"But we haven't seen each other for several _months_ before that. How _cold_!" Her mother pouted, still cuddling her. Soon enough, the woman decided to let go and return to her cooking. Rinko retired her high-end job and volunteered to be the head cook for them when they moved to back Japan, and no one (but Nanjiroh) said a thing.

"Dinner'll be ready in half-an-hour. Be sure to be here by then, okay?"

"Hai, kaa-san." She said and saw that Seichi was standing there passively as if he was waiting for her. Maybe he was, he probably thought she would probably get lost again since there wasn't anyone to follow to her room.

She didn't have _that_ bad a sense of direction. So long as she had been on a place a few times before, she could always get there without trouble. Yukimura never seemed to acknowledge that though...

She hated to sound so pessimistic, but he probably thought that was just how useless she was.

Ryoma once again pushed the thoughts away and just proceeded to her room, which was right next to her master's, and changed clothing. She slightly eased the bandage on her chest to hide her already small breasts, and put in her jersey and jacket to replace her coverings. She checked her wig- something troublesome, but it didn't compare to the trouble her parents every time she cut it to a comfortable length gave.

She always questioned why they kept reacting that way, but no one gave her a clue...

She shook away the thoughts and dismissed them as troublesome and so not worth pursuing anymore. She let out a deep breath and went outside to wait for Seichi to come out the door.

It was then that she heard a thump, and by instinct she opened the door.

Her eyes widened slightly.

It was Seichi looking mad with his hands forcefully on the table- as if _he_ was the one who consciously made that sound.

"G-Gomen Nasai." She bowed and looked away. What did he look so… distraught about? She did care, but she wasn't about to willingly offer her help when she was certain he was just going to shout for her to get out of his sight.

But before she even turned around, she froze. Why couldn't she just leave him some privacy, anyway? She turned back to his half-naked figure without the calmness it usually had.

"Is there anything I can help you with?"

"No." as she thought. "But I suggest you wait inside somewhere. I'm going to take a while to get ready." He huffed and proceeded to his walk-in closet.

As ordered, she sat by an expensive-looking chair, and found herself passively looking around the room. It was designed (as the rest of the house was) in a classical revival style. Like the Greco-Roman designs minus the excessive ornamentation. The colors suited him perfectly as well.

Everything he chose fitted him perfectly.

It wasn't fair. She thought so highly of herself- but when she imagined herself next to Seichi, she couldn't help but feel pale.

She sighed.

When would _she_ feel worthy to be in his company, anyway?

Maybe she would never do.

Maybe she never _should_.

*Several Minutes later*

Ryoma's eyes found themselves slowly, but surely, feeling bored and tired from basically doing nothing. She stopped herself from thinking minutes ago for fear of what she might show when he suddenly came out of his closet.

Darn it. Last time she recalled, Seichi didn't quite take this long to get ready. She let her thoughts flow randomly at the possibility until it abruptly stopped. Her eyes widened.

_Could something have happened?_

She flinched and stood up. But before she ran she stopped herself.

After all if nothing did happen, then she was in for some trouble for being impatient and rude.

But what if something bad _did_ happen?

Just the mere thought made her go by pure reflex and sprint to the door to abruptly open it.

_Doki_

She was right.

Seichi was just there, lying with his back on the carpet and she ran to him. Her chest wouldn't stop pounding. She heard he was hospitalized for so many months for an illness just before she came and she dreaded the fact that she might be there to see it happen again.

"Seichi…" she called. It had been a while since she called him without the honorific but she didn't notice it at all. She held his cheek. He was neither excessively warm nor cold. He had always had the cool skin she remembered touching those years back.

When she noticed he wasn't moving, she felt herself gulp and huffed enough air so she could yell for help.

"M-Mot—"

But she was cut off by a hand on her hand and she whipped her head to him. She flushed. He was staring at her with those beautiful cerulean eyes of his. **Directly.**

She stopped herself from melting. **  
**

_How long had it been?_

But for what seemed an eternity later they whipped their gazes away simultaneously, and not looking at the other afterwards.

"A-Are you alright?"

"I was just tired."

"I see." She said, feeling the need to keep her distance. "Well if you'll excuse me…"

"Ryoma."

"Hm?"

"What… were you thinking when you saw me just now?"

She blinked at the sudden question. "I… thought you fainted."

"Were you scared?"

_What is with these questions?_

She turned away, hiding her blush. She couldn't deny it _now_ , now could she? "…hai."

But he did not speak for awkward seconds after that and her head turned to check if he was still there. One of her fingers twitched at the sight of his unfathomable expression.

"Was it because it was your job…?"

She froze. Well, _was it?_

"I suppose so…" She said. _Was there any other answer?_

"I see…" he said placing a palm over his head, with eyes getting filled up by… what? Strain.

She automatically leaned down to see if he was alright. "Seichi-sama?"

He turned away, avoiding looking at her- again. She fought back the emotions that accompanied that actions and refused to leave. She even held his shoulder.

He froze, and quickly pushed her away.

_Doki_

So he was pushing her away physically now, as well? Sure, it was weak- but it was nowhere near gentle.

"Go. I'll go get ready." He said. To Ryoma it bluntly said ' _Leave me alone'._

She gulped but immediately returned to her usual cool self, keeping her mind blank. She really liked it that way.

"Hai."

_SLAM!_

As soon as she stepped out that room, her feet lost all of its strength. It was as if the mental strength that she needed were taken out of her appendages.

' _Haa…'_ came a huff full of self-irony.

Seichi was so mean. Why couldn't he just look at her? It would have been better if he said all those things bluntly to her face.

But somehow… she couldn't quite get mad.

And that fact depressed her to no end.

* * *

ECHIZEN RESIDENCE, A Few Hours Later

It was late at night, and most people would already be asleep.

But two certain people were still lively, playing inside a tennis court within a Buddhist temple everyone thought was inhabited by perverted ghosts.

_Boink!_

And yet another point was lost- signalling the end of the game.

A racket was haughtily pointed at her face. "You've gotten rusty, O'chibi!" A middle-aged man in a monk's suit tried to provoke a young cross-dressing girl across the court. She frowned.

"You _think_?"

The old man's eyes twitched. "Why are you looking at me like it was _my_ fault?!"

"Well it _is_. Maybe if you let me play with _him_ \- heck, why did I even _become_ his guard?"

"Whoa, _whoa_. Kiddo. Calm down." Nanjiroh grinned. "Something happened, didn't it?"

"Urusai."

He stared at her, making her feel annoyed. It wasn't just that anticipating look on his eyes.

"Tell me!"

"Why are _you_ so nosy?" Last time she checked, _he was supposed to dislike this arrangement as well!_

"Because you look _so_ uncool I just _had_ to know what happened with you and Seichi- _sama_."

Well, that hit a nerve. Her hand clenched on the tennis ball at hand, and her tennis racket on another.

Nanjiroh didn't even see what was coming at him before it was on his face.

"GYYAAH!"

**.  
.**

**END OF CHAPTER 3**

_**Coming Soon:  
** _ **CHAPTER 4: Seichi**

* * *

...

* * *

**Thanks for reading~! I would truly appreciate it if you let me know what you thought! : )**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read the rest HERE!  
> https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8454088/1/Preservation

**Author's Note:**

> Cross post~   
> Actual postings: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8454088/1/Preservation


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